Last June, the movie ‘After Earth’ premiered in Europe. In this blockbuster from Sony Pictures, the main character, played by Will Smith, is stranded on a future Earth. But our planet’s environment has changed for the worst, leaving the planet almost uninhabitable. A very alarming prospect indeed. ESA shares the message of concern about the future of Earth presented in the After Earth fim and partnered with Sony.

Part of the cooperation between ESA and Sony was a European competition, involving questions about the film and space. The prize is a parabolic flight, where the lucky winner will experience ‘weightlessness’, as close as possible to actually flying in space!

ESA received over 2000 entries from all over Europe. From the correct entries, we have drawn a winner. Linda Lemmens, from the Netherlands, will go on an all-expenses paid trip to Bordeaux in France, on 25 October, for the flight of a lifetime on the Novespace Zero-G aircraft.

Parabolic Flight

On 25 September, Ms Lemmens will be receiving a detailed briefing on her flight by ESA experts at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Media will be invited to attend this briefing.

Many thanks to all participants of the contest. We’ll be publishing the story and pictures of Ms Lemmens’ exciting adventures after the flight.

ESA astronauts during parabolic flight aboard the Airbus A300 Zero-G

Answers to the questions

1. What did ESA's Envisat satellite measure?Earth's ice caps

2. About how many times does the International Space Station orbit Earth per day?18

3. Cansats are the size of a:soft-drink can

4. When will the Rosetta spacecraft reach a comet?2014

5. What does the Automated Transfer Vehicle carry to the International Space Station?Supplies